I graduate with my BSN in 5+ months and as much as I know my job is to make nursing diagnoses and not those of the medical variety, I find myself constantly focusing on the latter. It might just be due to the fact that the docs are rarely able to fully commit to a diagnosis when they chart their progress notes, so in my free time I dig through radiology summaries and whatever else I can find to fulfill my own curiosity about "what is really going on."
Or, maybe I'm just more geared toward being a doctor or a PA.
I applied to nursing school because I get a great feeling when I ease someone else's pain. I admit, it is more for me than it is them. But the natural by-product of my selfishness is my patients get excellent care. I go out of my way to not just do what is expected of me, but also to make my patient's time enjoyable. Nothing is better than when a patient says something like, "I didn't notice my pain all afternoon."
But looking toward the future, once my freshman idealism starts to dull a bit (and our instructors keep assuring us it will), what could likely sustain me is the challenge of differential diagnosis.
So my question...has anyone considered making the change, or do you know anyone who has actually gone from RN to MD or DO or PA...and what has the transition been like?
